Musical a first in Theater Shorts

Five plays on tap during popular event at Penn

MISHAWAKA -- The popular Penn Theater Shorts over the years have included comedies, dramas, thrillers ... just about everything but musicals.

That changes with the presentation of Breanna Kazmierczak's "Liliana: A Musical," one of the five short plays to be offered to the public Thursday night.

"This is the first time we've tried a musical and she (Kazmierczak) has lined everything up," said Penn High School theater teacher Bill Heimann. "She found a choreographer, an accompanist -- she's going straight at it with costumes and the whole thing."

Kazmierczak, a senior, wrote the story and lyrics, and is directing the "mini-musical," as she calls it. Her 25-minute or so production includes five songs -- and a chorus of 10.

The story is a medieval comedy in which a princess and her lover try to maneuver around a curse placed by the unscrupulous king.

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"The plot is fun and silly and I think it's going to work," Heimann said.

Kazmierczak, a member of school choirs, has a music background and has acted in previous Penn musicals, but this is the first play she's written.

Having composed music previously, that part of the writing process came fairly easily. But she struggled with the dialogue and leaned on 2011 Penn graduate and theater veteran Sam Dixon, now a college freshman, for assistance.

"I sent him the script and he made some suggestions. It has helped," she said.

Meanwhile, senior Brian Kempiak understands growing pains as a playwright. "Silent Voice," the evening's opener, is his third play for the Theater Shorts and the experience has helped him both as a writer and director.

"When I was a sophomore I had no clue how to control my cast or how to go over the lines and make them entertaining," Kempiak said.

"Now I feel like I have some control and can make changes that improve the play."

That's just what he did in this play by adding a monologue to the original script in order to give the audience a better understanding of a key character.

"Silent Voice" is a romantic comedy in a high school setting. The story revolves around a notebook that was stolen by one female student from another, then given to a male student, Dean.

The notebook contains personal feelings about Dean and relationships in general. Dean likes what he reads but questions the true identity of the author.

The other three plays are "Another Day at the Office," written by Destinee Flowers; "I Lost My Fun," by Savannah Hope; and "One Day in Paris," by Sam Dixon and Jordan Whitaker.

Each is written, directed and acted by Penn students, a process that faculty adviser Heimann believes is important to theater students.

"I like to remind kids that theater is the art of invention. And why not take a chance and do the inventing part," he said. "They create, produce and direct."

Through the years, he said, there have been a few occasions when the student-produced plays never got off the ground and had to be abandoned.

But for the most part, the student writers/directors are good at selling their stories to their peers.

"The writers get excited about what they have to present. They believe they have something to say, to have staged and they convey that to the troops," Heimann said. "It is an interesting phenomena -- that kindling of the fire."

Penn High School will present the Theater Shorts Dec. 15 in the Studio Theater. The five short plays are written and directed by Penn students. Tickets are $4.50 if purchased online at www.seatyourself.biz/penn, or $5 at the door. The lineup of plays:

“Silent Voice,” written and directed by Brian Kempiak.

“Another Day at the Office,” written and directed by Destinee Flowers.

“I Lost My Fun,” written by Savannah Hope, directed by Hope and Ashley Derickson.

“One Day in Paris,” written by Sam Dixon and Jordan Whitaker, directed by Whitaker and Mark Richards.

“Liliana: A Musical,” book, lyrics and directed by Breanna Kazmierczak; music by Kazmierczak and Kathryn Romine; choreography by Jensynn Smith; accompanist, Kristen Hungerford.